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zahroreadsthings · 1 hour

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All those places which you no longer behold, which you may never behold again, perchance, and whose memory you have cherished, take on a melancholy charm, recur to your mind with the melancholy of an apparition… and you love them; and you call them up as they are, as they were, and you persist in this, and you will submit to no change: for you are attached to the figure of your fatherland as to the face of your mother.

(I’m sobbing.) Yes, Vicky, it sucks to be forced to leave your beloved city and your beloved country.

Hugo’s lament and melancholy about Paris, which he left and would never see the same way again due to Haussmann’s drastic changes, is heart-wrenching. And he converts his memories of Paris streets into details of Valjean’s route—it’s a mere recitation of old street names: “He took a circuit, turned into the Passage des Patriarches, which was closed on account of the hour, strode along the Rue de l’Épée-de-Bois and the Rue de l’Arbalète, and plunged into the Rue des Postes,” and so on and so on.

Valjean navigating the Paris streets with his poacher’s instincts is remarkable. The chapter abounds with animalistic metaphors. The old man adeptly uses the moonlight to his advantage—concealing himself in shadows while observing moonlit streets to assess his pursuers, ensuring Javert is among them. After all, all four men chasing him resemble Javert: tall, clad in long coats, brandishing cudgels. When the moon illuminates one of them, “Jean Valjean recognized Javert perfectly.”

Poor little Cosette! She followed Valjean in full obedience, and it’s heartwarming that she felt safe with him. However, Valjean “knew no more where he was going than did Cosette.” Oh...

#les mis #victor hugo

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zahroreadsthings · 4 hours

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@nekosammsi Plague Doctor and Mermaid [|87 from The Salt Grows Heavy which is a seriously cool novella, would recommend

#i pkaced a hold on it bc of this btw #only 50 pages in so far and it rocks #the salt grows heavy #cassandra khaw

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zahroreadsthings · 2 days

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losing my mind at this

#⛓🥀

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zahroreadsthings · 2 days

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Writing Tips

Punctuating Dialogue

✧

➸ “This is a sentence.”

➸ “This is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,” she said.

➸ “This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a dialogue tag.”

➸ “This is a sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.”

➸ “This is a sentence followed by an action.” He stood. “They are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.”

➸ She said, “Use a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.”

➸ “Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,” he said.

“Unless there is a question mark?” she asked.

“Or an exclamation point!” he answered. “The dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because it’s not truly the end of the sentence.”

➸ “Periods and commas should be inside closing quotations.”

➸ “Hey!” she shouted, “Sometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.”

However, if it’s not dialogue exclamation points can also be “outside”!

➸ “Does this apply to question marks too?” he asked.

If it’s not dialogue, can question marks be “outside”? (Yes, they can.)

➸ “This applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically express—“

“Interruption” — but there are situations dashes may be outside.

➸ “You’ll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses don’t have a comma after them either…” she said.

➸ “My teacher said, ‘Use single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.’”

➸ “Use paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,” he said.

“The readers will know it’s someone else speaking.”

➸ “If it’s the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.

“This shows it’s the same character continuing to speak.”

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zahroreadsthings · 2 days

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I should reread a doll's house

#absolute banger #even better i should listen to an audio #we never did in hs

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zahroreadsthings · 2 days

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here's a fake interview about my me & my girlfriend that i transcribed from my head. enjoy!

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zahroreadsthings · 3 days

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never let anyone tell you that trawling through mediocre victorian poetry isn't worth it. we just happened upon an absolute BANGER of a worm poem. go read it or else 🪱🪱🪱

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zahroreadsthings · 3 days

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